Preview

The Human Mind: Id .vs. Ego and Superego (Lord of the Flies

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Human Mind: Id .vs. Ego and Superego (Lord of the Flies
Isaac Lee 9Ak Essay Lord of the Flies

The human mind: Id .vs. Ego and Superego

Lord of the flies was written by William Golding. It is about a group of boys who crash-landed on the island. They are to survive and as the novel progresses, the boys’ imaginations takes them to hallucinating about a ‘beast’ being on the island. The ‘beast’ is a representation of fear and leads to the power struggle between Ralph and Jack with Simon standing by the side. William Golding uses the power struggle as a representation of the human mind, how the Id, the savage, basic instinct of our mind is always there and the reason for civilization (e.g social interaction and rules and the consequences.) The power struggle represents the human mind. The three main characters are the representation of the three parts of the mind, focusing on the Id, which is always there floating in the back of ones mind. The human mind is split into three different parts, the Id, the Ego and the Superego as thought by an austrian neurologist - Sigmund Freud. The Id is the set of uncoordinated instinctual trends, basically, the hunger for everything we desire. Freud thought that the Id was driven by the ‘libido’ - the energy from life’s instinct and the will to survive, it gives the feeling to desire. The ego is the organized realistic part of your mind, it satisfies the Id by controlling it through any means to divert, transform or converting the powerful force of Id to useful and realistic modes of satisfaction that can be done in reality and suppresses the need for everything. The superego is your conscience, it judges the right and wrong, it seeks perfection that is beyond the limits of reality, even beyond the ego. Overall, the ego is always negotiating with the id, trying to prevent it from over whelming itself while the superego watches over, jumps in when it thinks that it

Lee, p.2 can have a moral decision about the situation. In the Lord of the Flies, Jack represents the id. He has an

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    William Golding, the author of lord of the flies explores many themes which all are related to his past experience. Using his past life experiences, Golding tries to represent some of the main human traits such as intelligence, leadership, greed, knowledge, and logic. In his novel Golding represents evil in humanity through jack, goodness in humanity in the form of Simon, intellect through piggy and strong leadership through Ralph. The author shows the struggle between good vs evil, strong vs weak, logic vs ignorance, and most of all Civilization vs Savagery. Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how easily society can collapse, and how self-destructive human nature can be. As soon as the first chapter starts, Golding sets up the stage for the boys as they head for destruction.…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies, an emblematic novel written by William Golding in 1954, is often interpreted as an allegory of the human psyche. For example, in a literary criticism of Golding’s Lord of the Flies Diane Andrews Henningfield, a professor at Adrian College, states: “According to Freud the id works always to gratify its own impulses…Golding seems to be saying that without the reinforcement of social norms, the id will control the psyche.” (Novels for Students 188) In Lord of the Flies Jack, the conch shell, and Piggy’s glasses descend into savagery when detached from the manacles of civilization because they are dominated by selfish desires and desperately seek to gratify them without considering the well-being of anyone else.…

    • 810 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the novel, Lord of the Flies, Freudian psychology is present with three kids named Jack, Ralph and Piggy. Jack represents the id, Ralph represents the ego, and Piggy represents the superego. All of these kids have specific actions that help qualify them as a specific element of Freudian Psychology. There is a lot of tension between the three of them, all of them want to be on top. This novel is ultimately about three young kids that each represent a different element Freudians Psychology, fighting to be the most powerful on the island.…

    • 852 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Human nature is a double-sided coin. On one side there is the incredible capacity to love and care for others, the willingness to put one’s own needs aside and lay down for the good of his fellow man. But on the other. On the other side, there always remain the horrendous capacity for destruction despite any attempt to bury it within. William Golding exemplifies the darker aspects of human nature in his book Lord of The Flies. He accomplishes this by using characters like Jack, Ralph, and Simon as tools to convey deeper symbolic messages. Golding uses his characters allegorically consistently throughout his novel. Through them he conveys viewpoints on the political viewpoints, as well as the physical representation of many of mankind’s inherent…

    • 2497 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Lord of the Flies by William Golding is a novel, where a group of young British boys are lost on an island after their plane crash lands. Throughout the novel William Golding utilization of literary devices are in place to reveal a theme of the novel, civilization and innocent are destroyed due to the savagery of the boys', desire for power, and fear of the unknown. William Golding utilizes three important literary devices throughout the novel, symbolism, of when the conch is destroyed civilization on the island is gone, foreshadowing the deaths of the boys on the island and irony as the civilize British boys turn savages.…

    • 1088 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The book Lord of the Flies was written by William Golding after World War II. He describes about the group of boys who survive from the airplane crash. At first, all the boys have never known each other before but when the story progresses, all the characters start to show off their real personalities, and they have very different characteristics and opposing thought to each other. Golding uses the theme of human nature to show how difference the society is and the contents allude to some instinct in human nature in both good and bad way. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies (1954), the theme of human nature is represented by the beast, violence, and religious reasoning.…

    • 118 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord Of The Flies Summary

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Lord of the Flies, written by William Golding, is a novel about a group of adolescent boys who are deserted on an uninhabited island that lacks adult supervision after they are separated from their friends and families during a time of war in Britain. From the beginning, an older boy named Ralph, the main character, establishes a system of leadership within the small group of about twenty to thirty boys that range between the ages of five to twelve years old. Ralph, the oldest, is named the leader but one of the other older boys, Jack, thinks that he could be a better leader because he knows how to hunt which causes the two boys to bicker and argue with each other throughout the entire novel until they are rescued by a naval ship that sees…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The central theme of the Lord of the Flies is the influence of others. Each boy had to pick between a set of rules and morals to live by, dividing them into two groups. The conflict consisted of Civilization versus savagery. In one group the influence of Ralph was a sense of order and everyone lived by rules. The influence of good beliefs and values generated these boys from committing sinful crimes. In Jacks group, the boys were influenced by evil. The killing of animals empowered them to become sinful people. Jack would measure value in the group by ones immediate desire to kill coldblooded. To obtain authority you needed to act violently. These acts shaped how the boy’s mental state developed. Damaging the human they will grow up to be.…

    • 311 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lord of the Flies” by William Golding is a dramatic novel filled with irony, fear and truth. It touches on many issues surrounding government, Christianity and democracy. The book focuses on society and through its effective use of conflict, gives us an idea what life would like without rules and civilization. The novel tells a story of a plane filled with British school boys that crashes on a deserted island during World War 2. The boys, struggling to survive, test their morals, values and beliefs. Conflict is developed throughout the novel in the form of man vs. nature, man vs. man, man vs. himself, and man vs. society.…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Civility vs. Savagery

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages

    In William Golding’s novel “Lord of the Flies,” civility, which is associated with morality and goodness, and savagery, associated with evil and corruptness, are constantly at war. The conflict between the novel’s main protagonist and antagonist, Ralph and Jack, represents the broader struggle of these two ideas. Civility and savagery are further represented through recurring symbols throughout the novel. Lastly, these conflicting ideas present themselves in internal battles within the characters. Through external conflicts, symbolism, and internal struggles, the war between savagery and civility appears constantly throughout the novel.…

    • 911 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Deep inside each individual is a psychological choice to be made between good and evil. In William Golding’s novel, Lord of the Flies, this choice and its subsequent results are represented by Ralph and Jack. With no rules and no adults on the island to guide them, Jack gives into his evil desires. Whereas Ralph struggles to maintain a sense of humanity and constantly tries to strive to do good. Both started off as English schoolboys, but when left alone on the island human nature tends to make the choices.…

    • 846 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Are the defects of society traced back to the defects of human nature? The defects of society, and how it relates to the defects of human nature can be explained with the savagery that drives the defects of society and the same savagery that drives the defects of human nature. In this story, Lord of the flies, Golding shows the id, ego, and superego within the characters in the book. Golding represents the id with Jack, whereas the id says "I want, and I want it now," and Jack constantly wants and needs power, and wants his way in every situation. He represents the ego with Ralph, whereas the ego says "Well, maybe you can have some of it - later," and Ralph tries to be or is the remediator by always trying to make everything go right, and trying to enforce rules. Golding also represents the superego with Piggy, whereas the superego says "You can't have it; it's bad for you," and Piggy yells at the people disobeying the rules, and demands that the others can not do the things that they do.…

    • 783 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Lord of the Flies, a novel by William Golding, reflects upon the very core of human beings. Golding described human beings as innately evil. He also showed readers that all it takes to bring humans’ true nature out is by being in an unknown environment that is free of laws. Being surrounded by mysterious creatures in an unknown land, the stranded boys are left for dead. In the small world without adults, the boys slowly corrupt in to follow their instinct to satisfy their immediate desires. By being in a microcosm of society with no rules or restriction, the boys begin to seek absolute power. By setting the novel in an island without adults, Golding shows how civilization can quickly deteriorate into savagery.…

    • 853 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Lord Of The Flies is possibly one of the most complex novels of the twentieth century. This complexity and depth is evident when the characters are compared to the psychological teachings of Freud. The book shows examples of this psyche in the characters Jack, Piggy and Ralph and how they change during their time on the island.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Lord of the Flies by William Golding is tale of a group of young boys who become stranded on a deserted island after their plane crashes. Intertwined in this classic novel are many themes, most that relate to the inherent evil that exists in all human beings and the malicious nature of mankind. In The Lord of the Flies, Golding shows the boys' gradual transformation from being civilized, well-mannered people to savage, ritualistic beasts.…

    • 1237 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics